MY NAME IS CECCHINI ......DARIO CECCHINI
For the last 35 years I have been a butcher, seeking to better myself in my art, and to discover the best cutting and cooking methods for each piece of meat.
| Antica Macelleria Cecchini - Panzano in Chianti, Florence, Italy - Tel +39 055 852020 - fax +39 055 852700 - macelleriacecchini@tin.it | IT | ENG |FR | GE |
Legend has it that a Tuscan, travelling in the North, ordered an oven baked veal shank, and finding it quite good set about improving it.
Starting with a shank of boned beef (as he didn't care for the virginal pallor of veal) he removed the marrow from the bone and recomposed the meat with the marrow inside, adding sea salt, crushed black pepper and "rosa di mare" (what we today call "rosemary").
He cooked it with shallots and olive oil in a covered casserole. Then somewhat alarmed by the delicious carnality of the result, he "blessed" it with Vino Xantos (vin santo or holy wine).
The sheer pleasure provoked by eating this dish was such that for centuries it was forbidden to virgins under the age of twenty. This ban fell into disuse with the passage of time as it became more difficult to find them (virgins, that is).
Heat your oven to 180°C (350 F). You need olive oil and 1 kg of peeled shallots. Add half a glass of vin santo after ninety minutes. Cook for three hours in all.
And that is that.
 IL PROFUMO DEL CHIANTI  TONNO DEL CHIANTI  BISTECCA ALLA FIORENTINA  COSIMINO  SUSHI DEL CHIANTI  RAGNO  AGNELLO AL PECORINO |
 LA MOSTARDA MEDITERRANEA  ARROSTO FIORENTINO  BRASATO AL MIDOLLO  LA MIA ARISTA  PASTICCIO TOSCANO  LINGUA SALMISTRATA  SCAMERITE AL FINOCCHIO |
 FIORE DI FINOCCHIO  BISTECCA PANZANESE  FINOCCHIONA  LA SALSICCIA ALL'AGLIO  PEPOSO NOTTURNO  SOPRASSATA DEI MEDICI  BURRO DEL CHIANTI |